All the latest about the Park–straight from the Executive Director’s desk…
Dave’s Blog
Red Mountain Park Office Move
September 3, 2010Next week we take one step closer to the future of the park by moving from our office downtown to an office located on Lyon Lane, which is right next to the park property.
As we move closer to building RMP, the Staff and Commission have found ourselves at the park more and more often–this move will prove convenient and time-saving. While moving is not at the top of my favorite hobbies(not even close!), we will hopefully survive…
Proclamation from Mayor Bell
August 26, 2010On Tuesday, Red Mountain Park Staff and Commission attended the City Council meeting in order to hear the Mayor’s proclamation for the men and women who worked and lived on Red Mountain–he declared August 24th, 2010 Red Mountain Park Miners’ Day. Enjoy the photographs Ranger McFerrin captured and read the proclamation from the Mayor below.
“Whereas, Red Mountain is the industrial foundation and soul of the…
Your last summer read, brought to you by our Commissioner, Jim Bennett
August 20, 2010Iron & Steel: A Guide to Birmingham Area Industrial Heritage Sites by James R. Bennett(Red Mountain Park Commissioner) and Karen R. Utz(Curator at Sloss) is a great way to spend your last few hours of summer reading. At only about a hundred pages long, it’s an easy and enjoyable read that will leave you wanting to get out and explore our city. Check out this fantastic quote from the introduction of the…
Reunited.
August 10, 2010This weekend, I headed out to the park with Adrian Kirksey and Louise Taylor, family members meeting for the very first time. Adrian, a native of Kentucky, began researching his family tree several months ago and learned that he had family who worked in the mines on Red Mountain. He then found Louise and Red Mountain Park and we all ended up atop the mountain on Saturday talking about his great…
Underneath Red Mountain Park….
August 5, 2010Always in the back of my mind is the fact that underneath this park we’re building lies the remains of a workplace that was unlike anything around here today. Hundreds of feet below us, there were several jobs being executed with extreme caution and care each and every day. What exactly were those jobs and how were they done? Below is a short clip of one of our oral history interviews with Isaac(Ike) Maston, who…
NEW feature to Red Mountain Park−the Speaker’s Bureau.
July 30, 2010Houston, we have a problem. But it’s a great problem to have, especially since we now have a fantastic solution.
We are happy to say that we have had so many requests for presentations about the park that we felt the need to build a group that would conquer some of those speaking engagements. Where’s the very first place we looked to find the some of the people who can talk about Red…
Our First Life Scout Project.
July 19, 2010On Friday(July 16th), Scout Aaron Stansell came out to Red Mountain Park to complete his scouting Life Project. He and three friends worked on the new folds trail extension, which will run from the Smythe trail over to the Ridge Road Jeep trail. They performed their work well, benching 150 feet of trail to near the top of the first hill on the trail. Enjoy the photos below, both taken by Jeff Newman, and have a wonderful…
Immodest Proposals, Birmingham Weekly (check out the paragraph in bold)
July 9, 2010Immodest proposals
It’s my last day as managing editor, so I decided to write whatever the hell I want. The following proposals, I believe, could dramatically improve this city of my birth, this city that I love (and hate… natives will understand my schizophrenia). Some of the proposals are wackier than others. Some are not at all
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ABC 33/40 TONIGHT!
July 8, 2010We got a wonderful call this morning about the two cemeteries that the park has acquired–they are a tremendous piece of park and Birmingham history, so we are glad they have received some attention. Please be sure to tune in tonight at 5:00 on Channel 33/40. You will see our Park Ranger along with Oral History Participant Ike Maston and our new intern, Drew. Ike has family buried in the Mt.…
Another Eagle Project Completed
June 23, 2010Congratulations to Nick, who just wrapped up his eagle project. He presented the park with an incredible keepsake from his project. He worked on the Mt. Olive cemetery, and in the process discovered this beautiful headstone that he etched and framed for our office.
Thanks, Nick!
weekend full of eagles.
June 14, 2010My Saturday was spent helping in 3 Eagle Scout Projects on the park. I was so impressed with the work put forth by each of these soon-to-be eagles. Check out their impressive work below: a bridge demolition at the No. 13 site, a bridge being built on the Redding trail, and a park video project…
New Views…
June 11, 2010of the amazing Redding Hoist House, taken by Staffer Jeff Newman. The heavy clearing around the site have provided views that haven’t been seen since about 1971. Enjoy.
Ruffner Mountain Nature Center
June 1, 2010You may have seen the 50 Great Ways to Love Our Community, a list put on by The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. It was a series to celebrate the Foundation’s 50th anniversary and a new list for this year and next has begun, starting with a salute to Ruffner Mountain Nature Center. I hope everyone will take a quick look at these words from The Community Foundation:
With a new executive director,…
3 Parks, 3 Directors, 1 hike to celebrate our progress….
May 19, 2010It feels good to be part of Birmingham’s 3 Parks Initiative, and even better to share the charge of building and growing these places with people like Katherine and Robbie. We had some fun together on Friday out at the park, see the photo below.
Congratulations to Ruffner for their beautiful facilities and to Railroad Park as they near completion–Birmingham has much to be excited about…
“If we don’t get it now, it’ll be lost forever.”
May 11, 2010These are the words ore miner Willie Cammack used to tell us how he felt about preserving Birmingham’s red mountain history. Willie was an Ishkooda miner who visited the No.14 slope where he worked on February 19, 2010. Our Park Ranger captured some of what he had to say about Red Mountain Park’s past, present, and future. Enjoy:
Pesky Privet
May 4, 2010We have begun the process of knocking out some of the invasive plants at Red Mountain Park and finally found just the tool we need!
Clearing at No.13
April 26, 2010Take a quick look at some of the work being done to clear the area around the No. 13 portal. Cool stuff.
What would we do without them?
April 19, 2010This week’s blog is dedicated to our dedicated volunteers, the Friends of Red Mountain Park! We had a great opportunity to thank them on Friday night, so that’s exactly what we did. And they thanked one another with some great awards. It all went down at our oral history exhibit at the Lite Box Gallery–if you still haven’t checked it out, you must go soon. Last day is Saturday! (W,…
Spring in the Park
April 6, 2010Take a look at the photo Jeff captured at the park over the weekend….